Joris van Severen

Joris Van Severen (19 July 1894 – 20 May 1940) was a Belgian politician and ideologue of the Flemish Movement as well as a Pan-Netherlander. A leading figure of pre-World War II Flemish nationalism, he co-founded the extreme-right group Verdinaso.upright=1.35

Early years Van Severen was born in the Flemish town of Wakken as Georges Edmond Eduard Van Severen. The letter, which was the work of Van Severen and other intellectual soldiers such as Corporal Adiel de Beuckelaere, included calls for internal self-government and a separate Flemish Army. When this was discovered Van Severen was interrogated by Military Police about his Flemish nationalist activities and after informing them that he supported the terms of the letter he was sentenced to eight days of house arrest. His ultimate punishment was to be demoted back into the ranks in June 1918. His ideas began to take shape in the journal Ons Vaterland, which Van Severen and other like-minded soldiers produced from the front.

Demobilised after the war, Van Severen returned to his studies at Ghent University, where he was chosen as president of the General Flemish Student Union.

Verdinaso With his plans having been rejected by the Frontpartij in October 1931, he broke away from that group to establish his party, Verdinaso. Van Severen advocated the use of force to take over the existing Belgium and then to establish the Greater Belgian state that he supported. The change was brought about in part by Van Severen "discovering" in 1934 that the Walloons, like the Flemings, were descended from the Franks.

To get his ideas off the ground, Van Severen attempted to come to agreements with other far-right movements, notably Rex and the Flemish National Union. Still, he was not successful in these endeavours.